Where did it all go wrong for France at Euro 2020?
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France headed into Euro 2020 as one of the bookmaker’s pre-tournament favourites to lift the trophy, but the reigning world champions ended up bowing at in the last 16.
Having been drawn in the so-called “group of death” alongside Germany, Portugal and Hungary, it was always going to be difficult for Didier Deschamps’ side to qualify for the knockout phase.
However, when they finished at the top of Group F – one point clear of both Portugal and Germany – everything appeared to be going smoothly.
When you take a closer look at France’s performances in the group stage, though, it is clear that something wasn’t right.
• Analysing France’s group stage performances
Although the French kicked off their European Championship campaign with a 1-0 victory over Germany, they were nowhere near their best.
In fact, they only saw 38% possession against the Germans and were gifted the win by an unfortunate Mats Hummels own goal.
France were then held to a 1-1 draw by Group F underdogs Hungary, with Antoine Griezmann netting his team’s only goal of the game, despite seeing 67% of the ball.
Karim Benzema bagged a brace on Matchday 3 against Portugal, yet the French could only manage a 2-2 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.
All in all, France took five points from a possible nine in Group F, scoring four goals while conceding three along the way.
• Losing to Switzerland on penalties
After going behind to Switzerland in the last 16, Benzema score twice again before Paul Pogba netted a sublime long-range strike to give his side a 3-1 lead on 75 minutes.
However, the Swiss pulled a goal back on 81 minutes before scoring the equaliser with second of the 90 minutes remaining.
The French enjoyed the majority of possession and racked up a whopping 26 shots overall, yet they were eventually taken to a penalty shootout.
The first nine penalties were scored, leaving Kylian Mbappe to take the deciding spot kick. But the PSG star’s penalty was saved by Yan Sommer, knocking France out of the competition.
• Who is to blame for France’s early exit?
It wouldn’t be entirely fair to solely blame Mbappe for France’s disappointing tournament. That said, he did miss the decisive penalty and failed to score in any of his four appearances.
The French were also hugely unlucky with injuries. Both their left-backs – Lucas Hernandez and Lucas Digne – got injured at Euro 2020, as did Ousmane Dembele.
Benzema certainly didn’t underperform, having scored four goals in as many games. Pogba also produced a series of standout displays, escaping any criticism in the process.
At the end of the day, France just failed to fulfill their potential and didn’t live up to expectations at Euro 2020.
But with seriously strong squad and a host of exciting youngsters coming through, you would be foolish to write off the 2018 World Cup champions just yet.
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